The present invention concerns a process for preparing cooked cereals by cooking and extrusion.
The preparation is known of cooked cereals by steam heat treatment, optionally under pressure, of a starch product such as milled cereals. Cooked cereals are thus obtained which have a characteristic underlying taste, which is reminiscent of the taste of cooked grain and/or a toasted taste and/or a biscuity taste.
A process for the preparation of cooked breakfast cereals is also known, for example through French patent 2640472, consisting of preparing a mixture of milled cereals having a moisture content of 14% to 22% by weight, and then extruding the said mixture. The extruded product thus obtained can then be dried and then ground and agglomerated so as to obtain grains which can easily be dissolved in a liquid.
Another process for preparing breakfast cereals consists of preparing a mixture of milled cereals and sugars, and introducing this mixture into a twin-screw extruder with a sufficient quantity of water so as obtain expanded pieces of cereal of the desired density, the said pieces of cereal then being able to be coated in a syrup and then dried.
The cereals thus obtained do not, however, have an underlying taste comparable to the taste traditionally obtained, this being due to the fact that, at the time of extrusion, the cooking time is short, generally about a minute, whereas for more traditional processes, for example steaming, the heat processing time may vary from 15 minutes to one hour, or even more.